Councillor Stephen Parnaby OBE, leader of the council, has today announced that the council aims to freeze council tax next year, so that people will, in 2011/12, pay no increase in the part of their bill which funds East Riding of Yorkshire Council services. Only unforeseen events, such as major flooding and other extreme weather conditions, or particularly extreme cuts in Government funding, could hinder these plans.
Councillor Parnaby said: “ The council has a track record of delivering high performing, low cost services. During the past year, we have continued to make efficiency savings and restricted spending where possible in preparation for the public spending squeeze which will inevitably lead to reductions in funding from Government.
“As a result of a wide range of initiatives, our services are expected to show savings of £10 million when we have finalised our annual accounts for 2009/10, which is an outstanding achievement in these challenging times.”
“Of these initiatives, it is particularly rewarding to see the impact of the council’s major investment in recycling in recent years that has helped achieve significant ongoing savings in the costs of waste disposal and these could not have been achieved without the help of the residents of the East Riding who are making good use of these new recycling facilities”
“The council is continuing to examine how we can transform working practices to reduce costs so that we can maintain a high standard of service to the public with fewer resources in the future and it is aiming to achieve further ongoing savings over the next few years through its Business Transformation Programme.”
“So that council tax payers benefit from the savings achieved in 2009/10 and from future planned savings we aim to maintain council tax in 2011/12 at 2010/11 levels. Although the level of council tax in the East Riding compares favourably with that in most other local authority areas, it is still a significant outgoing for many people, especially pensioners and others on fixed incomes and I think it is only right that people should benefit from the council’s prudent financial management.
